Vestiaire pushes out co-founder and President Fanny Moizant

Fanny Moizant has been at the forefront of the circular fashion movement, co-launching Vestiaire Collective from her Paris apartment 16 years ago. On Jan. 5, she shared on LinkedIn that the company is forcing her out as president.

Moizant cited “organizational changes” at the business, which sells “pre-loved” authenticated luxury items from the likes of Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent and Chanel.

“This was not a decision I initiated, nor one I expected, but I accept that it marks the end of an extraordinary chapter,” she wrote. “Since co-founding Vestiaire Collective in 2009, I’ve had the immense privilege of building a company with a soul, a purpose, and a powerful mission: changing the fashion industry from the inside — one second-hand item at a time.”

Vestiaire counts 23 million users in 70 nations, with tens of thousands of new listings every day. The private company is a certified B Corporation.

Moizant, who received knighthood from the French government in 2023, has been bullish about the potential for “pre-loved” luxury growth.

High-end and secondhand fashion sales will reach $360 billion by 2030, according to an October report by Vestiaire and Boston Consulting Group. It found resale growing three times faster than sales of equivalent new items. 

Authentication challenges

At the same time, Vestiaire acknowledges the high costs of fending off dupes. It combines digital authentication with in-person, white-glove inspection of streetwear, handbags and watches.

Vestiaire takes on the liability and refunds knockoffs, if they creep into a sale. The centralized approach to circularity contrasts with that of other peer-to-peer merchants such as Vinted, through which sellers and buyers ship directly to one another. 

Authentication requires so much work that Vestiaire launched a controversial carbon credits program to help fund it. On Oct. 3, the company began offering credits on an independent marketplace. Each credit represents emissions savings generated through secondhand purchases on Vestiaire.

Vestiaire carries more than 13,000 luxury and boutique brands but bans mid-range, high-production staple labels, including Gap, H&M and Zara. It’s among the few e-commerce resale players offering menswear.

The company has raised $722.3 million total, with the last, undisclosed round in January 2024, according to Crunchbase. In 2021 Vestiaire reached “unicorn” status, with a valuation above $1 billion, after it raised $208 million from Gucci owner Kering Group and Tiger Global Management. 

Shifting leadership

Chief Marketing Officer and global CMO Samina Virk appears to have left the company as of December, according to her LinkedIn profile — about eight months after being promoted from North American CEO. (Trellis has not confirmed her departure at publication time.)

CEO Bernard Osta, who joined Vestiaire Collective in October, has been emphasizing AI to enhance authentication and user experiences. Promoted from CFO and strategy lead, he’s a former Goldman Sachs and Lazard investment banker. 

Osta replaced CEO Maximilian Bittner, co-founder of the Lozada marketplace, now part of Alibaba.

Moizant’s path to knighthood

The idea for a trusted consignment service emerged as Moizant restocked her closet after having two daughters. Through word of mouth, she met several people with a parallel idea, and they eventually joined forces as co-founders.

The company’s original name, Vestiaire de Copines, translates to “your friends’ wardrobe.” It launched around the same time as Vinted and ThredUp, and ahead of Poshmark and The RealReal.

In addition to founding Vestiaire Collective and evangelizing circular luxury fashion, Moizant is credited with expanding the business into Europe and Asia Pacific.

Among her cofounders: Sophie Hersan remains at Vestiaire as fashion director shaping brand and sustainability; Sébastien Fabre runs luxury resale rival ReSee; Christian Jorge exited in 2017 to co-found Arianee and Omie & Cie; and Alexandre Cognard and Henrique Fernandes left earlier.

In 2023, France awarded Moizant and Hersan the National Order of Merit, with the grade of Chevalier, or knight.

Before Vestiaire, Moizant had worked for designer John Galliano and attended L’Institut Français de la Mode.

Praise for Moizant

“The success of Vestiaire Collective was built first and foremost on its incredible brand, driven by your unique understanding of our customers, the zeitgeist and incredible story telling,” Bittner commented on Moizant’s LinkedIn post. “Above that, even more importantly, you are a great entrepreneur, pioneer and leader, who inspired those around you, including me, every day.”

“Sixteen years of shaping circularity not only left a mark on the industry, it redefined it forever,” wrote Melissa McDermott, founder and CEO of Reclaim of Barcelona.

“Her intuition for brand and product, her deep understanding of the fashion community and her early commitment to circularity have profoundly shaped the company’s identity, DNA and mission.” a Vestiaire Collective spokeswoman told Trellis.